


Everything Changes From Here On Out

by HerDiamonds



Series: Tiny Verse [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, F/F, Time Travel, but I disregarded the finale, established avalance, idk how to tag this, its pretty canon tbh?, meet baby Laurel Lance, mom!avalance, oh neron and Tabatha are in this too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 02:55:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18908086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerDiamonds/pseuds/HerDiamonds
Summary: What happens when Sara just shows up to Ava’s office with a baby and then disappears? Who’s kid is this? What timeline has Sara broken now? How does she fix this?Those were just a few questions racing through Ava’s mind.Though, she was not ready to find out the truth, and that the baby she’s currently holding is her daughter…from the future…with Sara…Or…lowkey accidental baby acquisition fic ft. moms!avalance (its pretty fluffy. there’s literally a teaspoon of angst)





	Everything Changes From Here On Out

**Author's Note:**

> so huge thanks to MrsNoraPalmer (@marithebookworm on twitter) for all her freakin’ help as I screamed at her while writing this. Liz, thanks for your help too (@lancealotsara) because without y’all I would not have gotten this written at all. 
> 
> I plan on writing other additions to this like “fic universe” ft. Tiny Lance, her moms and the team. I have a Darhkatom fic in the works of basically their reunion which is alluded to in this. 
> 
> if you want to see anything specifically, hit me up on twitter @xxcici_ and I’ll try my best to fic it
> 
> thanks for reading and enjoy!
> 
> (also final thanks to the bff belle (only_freakin_donuts) for beta reading this LYSM

Sara watches. She sees Nora’s hands go to Ray’s, and Ray squeezes her hand softly, empathetically. Nate claps a hand on Ray’s shoulder and his eyes meet Sara’s as they all stare forward at Ava. Sara’s eyes follow every movement she makes. That’s how she was trained. To watch. To observe. To focus. She was also trained to kill, and she would do whatever it took at this point to keep her  _ family _ safe. So she stands, silently, watching. She sways slightly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and back again. She watches Ava pace. She watches her pace, back and forth, telling her for the umpteenth time she’s going to wear a hole in the floor of the ship. She watches as Ava paces, worriedly, knowing her hands are tied. All their hands are tied. There was nothing left to do. 

 

Ava paces nervously around the command center of the Waverider, wringing her hands together and chewing lightly on her bottom lip. She hopes that no one can tell she’s on the verge of a full blown breakdown, ready to start crying at any second.  _ This really couldn’t be happening _ . She knows Sara’s eyes are on her, she feels them watching her, knowing Sara can see the worry and  _ fear _ in her eyes. She’s scared. They all were. All of them that are left. 

 

“This is the only option we have left, right?” Ava finally speaks up. “It’s the  _ only _ option?” She repeats softer.

 

“I think so, babe.” Sara replies after a pause. She doesn’t want it to be true, but the room is silent, tension is thick. They all know it’s the only option. Even Gideon is silent. 

 

Ava takes a deep, shaky breath, wrapping Sara in a hug. She presses her lips to the smaller blonde’s and Sara can taste the salty tears that meet their lips. “Be safe. I love you. Come back to me.” She whispers. After a brief moment, the rest of the team joins in on the hug, and Ava feels the love radiating around them. “Come back to us.” She says again. 

 

“Always.” Sara promises. “Gideon, plot a course for the jump ship for the year 2019.” She says weakly. She heads to the jump ship as everyone follows behind her. She makes sure she has what she needs with her and watches as the door shuts behind her, locking everyone else out behind her. 

 

—

 

Sara tightens her grip on the backpack she has and walks through the familiar bureaucratic building, straight towards Ava’s office. She glances around, watching, hoping no one catches sight of her as she slips past agents, sliding into Ava’s office. The light was off and she had been pretty accurate time wise, knowing Ava should be back any moment. The office is familiar and a neutral area between them, she hopes she doesn’t really freak Ava out by springing this on her. She hopes this will work. She needs this to work. 

 

Without a moment to spare, Sara sits down on the couch in Ava’s office and places the backpack on the floor as Ava opens the door, a tiny bit shocked to see her girlfriend in front of her.

 

“Hi, what a pleasant surpri—  _ oh _ .” Ava says with a surprise in her voice, seeing just what her girlfriend had with her.

 

“Can you watch her, please?” Sara says. “I— I have to deal with something, I will hopefully be back shortly.” She rushes out pushing the baby into Ava’s arms before slipping past her and walking out of the office before she could protest. 

 

“I— Sara!” She says, holding the infant out in front of her like it was infected. She rushes to the doorway, looking both ways but Sara was nowhere to be found. 

 

Ava squints at the baby in her hands. She’s still held out at arms’ length and Ava isn’t really sure what to do with the thing. She’s got soft blonde hair that is almost nonexistent if you’re not observant. Her eyes are almost as blue and bright as Sara’s, and the little girl has the tiniest of dimples on her chin, Ava could just kiss it. She’s a cute little thing for sure. She shrugs and figures Sara wouldn’t just leave her with any kid for very long so she shuts the door to her office and takes her seat at her desk, finally retracting the baby into her embrace and sits her down on her lap. She maneuvers the baby awkwardly for a moment, adjusting herself and the infant until she’s sitting with the baby on one of her knees, her arm wrapped securely around the infant’s waist as the little one is sitting on her lap, entertaining herself with the pens within her reach. 

 

From what she can see, the baby looks to be about six months old. She seems to be able to hold her head and neck up and when she smiled for the briefest of moments earlier, she had two tiny little white teeth poking through her bottom gums. Ava bounces her knee lightly, trying to flip through reports, fending off the baby’s hands in trying to get them.

 

“I wish I asked Sara for your name. You’re a cute little thing. Tiny too.” She says to the baby. 

 

“Mummumma.” The baby babbles, turning her head towards Ava.

 

“Oh, no Tiny Girl, I am not your mother.” Ava laughs quietly. “No way.” She says softly but the baby doesn’t listen and keeps repeating her babbles. “Lets see, Sara brought us a backpack, maybe you have toys in there, hm?” She says aloud, knowing very well she’s essentially talking to herself and won’t get an answer. 

 

She walks over to the backpack sitting on the floor near her couch and sets it on the couch, sitting down next to it. She places the baby on her knee again, trying to unzip the bag with one hand and with a little struggling, she manages to achieve her goal, opening the bag. She sees a small plush canary and immediately the baby lunges forward for it, almost out of Ava’s grasp. Ava pulls the toy out and hands it to the baby who then flails it around in her arms, playing with it as much as an infant could. While the baby is occupied with her toy, Ava takes the time to rummage through the bag, sifting through what all Sara had left her with. 

 

There’s a few diapers in the bag, along with wipes and a change of clothes. She sees an empty bottle in the side pocket and a container of formula and a pouch of baby snacks in smaller zipper section. She also finds a pacifier and a blanket at the bottom and is content with her findings. She knows Sara wouldn’t leave her stranded for too long with a baby, but she figures she has enough supplies to suffice her for the moment. She just hopes her girlfriend will be back soon. 

 

A moment passes and Ava finds herself staring at the baby. She tells herself she’s making it up, but this kid looked familiar. She shakes the thought from her head, but after her eyes resettle on the infant, she can’t unsee it. This baby looked like her girlfriend. This baby looked so much like Sara. Between the tiniest of chin dimples to the button nose and her eyes that were almost the bright shade of blue that Sara’s were. Ava furrowed her brow before pressing her fingertips to her forehead.  _ Please tell me my girlfriend didn’t bring me a baby version of herself. _ She prays to herself. 

 

Deciding in the moment, Ava stands up and returns to her desk, jostling the baby only slightly who still sits contently on her hip and is along for the ride. Ava touches her mouse and brings her desktop to life, making work of typing with one hand, searching any anachronisms or anything out of the ordinary in the last few hours that would have caused Sara to bring her this child, to bring her,  _ her. _

 

Ava searches once more when the window pops up, telling her no matches were found. She needs answers and there were none to be found on her computer. 

 

Sighing, she stands up again, crossing back over to the couch and sits down on the floor in front of it. “Hey Tiny Lance, you hungry?” She asks the baby, half expecting the infant to actually answer her, but when she doesn’t get a vocal reply she rummages through the bag and grabs the snack puffs packed in it. She pops the lid off and grabs a few pieces of the strawberry banana, star shaped things and holds them out in her palm. The little girl eyes them and grabs them with a chubby hand, shoving them unceremoniously into her mouth, munching on them slowly. Ava quietly laughs to herself watching the baby chew and drool on herself. She props her knees up and sits the baby on her stomach, propping the little one’s back up against her thighs, freeing both of her hands to grab the bottle from the backpack. 

 

She unscrews the cap, noting the water filled into the bottle already and grabs the container of formula, reading the directions carefully, twice, and double checking the measurement of water already in the bottle before attempting to scoop the powdered formula into the mouth of the bottle. She manages to scoop in two scoops, only spilling about half a tablespoon onto herself and the baby, brushing it off them before securing the lid back on the bottle and shaking it up. She fends off the grabby hands of the infant, reaching for her bottle, as she shakes it  _ vigorously for twenty to thirty seconds _ she says out loud to the baby, as if telling her that would make her stop reaching for the bottle with a grumpy frown on her face. 

 

She checks the bottle, making sure there aren’t any clumps of formula before presenting the bottle to the baby and helping her ease it into her little mouth. Ava watches contently as the baby sucks down the bottle, her eyes lulling from curiously awake to heavy and sleep laden as she reclines further into Ava’s legs, her eyes fighting to stay open. 

 

Ava scoots the baby into her arms more, watching as this tiny version of Sara tucked into her arms, falls blissfully asleep against her. She then pulls the empty bottle out from the baby’s mouth and grabs the fallen plush canary from the carpet and holds it close to the little one, rubbing a finger over her tiny features. 

 

Her mind races. Her breathing catches in her throat. Her heart flutters. She sits on the floor, trying to push the images out of her mind, the ones currently flooding her brain. Images of her and Sara raising a little baby, much like the one in her arms right that very moment. She shouldn’t be thinking about this. They just got to a point in their relationship, talking through everything and realizing they do want a forever with each other. Sure, they’ve joked about having kids, but they can’t really have kids now, can they? Especially with their jobs and, as Sara’s joked before, the other eight to ten kids they always have now. 

 

But she wants this? She can picture having a little baby with Sara. She wants  _ that _ . She wants  _ everything _ with Sara. 

 

She flinches, her sudden daydream gone when the door to her office opens abruptly and Gary pokes his head inside. “Director Sharpe? I—” He tilts his head in confusion, stepping inside the office fully, wondering if he’s seeing things. 

 

Ava shakes her head and looks up at him. “Please don’t ask, also keep your voice down low, I just got her to sleep.” She whispers. 

 

“I—uh… okay.” He says. 

 

“Was there a reason for your visit, Agent Green?” She asks, getting annoyed. She really hadn’t planned on anyone seeing her sitting on the floor with a sleeping baby in her arms. 

 

“Um—” Gary pauses, still unsure of how to respond, seeing his boss in such a soft state. “You know, I will just come back later. It wasn’t anything of a pressing matter.” He says and turns, walking out of her office, shutting the door behind him. 

 

Ava just looks back down at the baby and runs her fingers gently over the baby’s features. She traces the shell of her tiny ear, down the length of the baby’s little jawline that resembles Sara’s so much, to the little divot in her chin and Ava smiles. That damn chin dimple. She touches the baby’s nose, softly and runs the pads of her fingers over the baby’s forehead and sweeps her hand over the tiny bit of sandy blonde hair the little one has. The baby’s reflexes kick in as Ava runs her hand over the baby’s eyebrow and down her chubby, pink cheek and her pursed little lips curl into the smallest smile Ava thinks she’s ever seen. She can feel her heart melt in that moment and she knows this is exactly what she wants with Sara. She wants to be a mom. She can see them both as moms. She wants this with Sara, indefinitely. 

 

She’d always assumed she could be a mother, and after finding out she wasn’t the only Ava Sharpe in the universe, and there was countless of other manufactured Ava’s, the thought of becoming a mother, the thought of becoming  _ anything _ was pushed so far back into Ava’s mind, making her think she wasn’t deserving or worthy of being anything. But Sara had proved her wrong. Sara had been to hell and brought her back, giving fate a middle finger in the face. It made her realize that any dream she has  _ is _ possible with Sara because despite all her worries, Sara was in it for the long haul. 

 

She wanted this. She pats her legs, feeling her pockets for her phone and fishes it out of her pocket, carefully, trying to not jostle the baby too much and wake her up. She unlocks it, hovering over her messaging app and texts her girlfriend with her free hand. 

 

_ >We need to talk.  _

_ >Can you come to my office  _

_ when you have a second? _

_ >I want to have kids _

 

_ <Open a portal to my quarters? _

 

Ava sends the texts and immediately gets a response back, faster than she’d expected. Surely Sara would’ve come by for the baby if she was just sitting around on the Waverider, right? She presses the button on her time courier and the portal to Sara’s bunker opens and the blonde walks through, seeing Ava seated on the floor of her office, baby asleep in her arms. 

 

Sara can’t help but smile at the domesticity of the scene in front of her. “Now that is a sight I wouldn’t get tired of seeing.” Sara muses. “So, kids, huh?” 

 

Ava looks between the sleeping infant and back up to her girlfriend. “I—uh, yeah.” She manages to stutter out. “I just, sitting here today taking care of this little one, it made me realize I want this, I want to be a mom. I realized that everything I’ve done, none of the other Ava’s have experienced or  _ will _ experience that. I’ve defied odds and—” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “I want kids, with you. I want everything with you. You’re it for me, Sara. I—” Sara interrupts her rambling by squatting down next to her and placing a soft kiss on her lips. 

 

“I love you. And if you want to have a kid with me, I wish you the best of luck, but also I’ll be with you every step of the way.” She says as she pulls away from the kiss. 

 

“Are we really going to do this?” Ava says out loud, almost as if the whole conversation had been a figment of her imagination. 

 

“I think so—”

 

“—And I don’t mean like we have a baby tomorrow, but I just want to have one, sometime, in the future, hopefully soon, with you. I want  _ this _ .” She says, gesturing with her free hand to the sleeping baby, still blissfully unaware of what was going on around her, in her arms.

 

“That’s good, because I don’t think we can just have a baby today or tomorrow.” Sara jokes, laughing lightly to herself as Ava nudges her with her elbow. 

 

Ava looks down at the baby again as Sara sits down next to her fully, settling into her side. “So, care to tell me why you just dropped her with me this morning in such a hurry?” Ava muses. 

 

“What?” Sara looks at her with a confused glance. “I haven’t seen you since I left yo—our apartment this morning. I didn’t bring this baby to you. I don’t even know who she is?” 

 

“Yes you did. I came into my office this morning and you were here with this baby and handed her to me and said you had to deal with something and if I could watch her and then you literally disappeared out the door.” She argued back. 

 

“Aves, I promise you, I did not leave a baby with you this morning. I was on the ship, watching over the stupid dragon egg because Zari was freaking out that it was going to hatch and made me hold her hand. I snuck out to leave and to go change for the gym when you texted me.” Sara defended. 

 

“We should get to the Waverider then, because you definitely showed up here this morning.” Ava said attempting to stand up. 

 

Sara stood up and then reached out, waiting for Ava to pass the baby to her so the woman could stand up on her own. She gently cradles the baby to her chest, watching as the little girl frowns and wiggles with the disturbance before settling into Sara’s embrace and into slumber again. “She looks like you.” Sara whispers. Ava snorts out a tiny laugh. 

 

“You’re kidding. I think she looks like you. I thought you’d brought me a past version of yourself.” Ava says, stretching her arms after she stands up. “I had to search the databases for any anachronisms and didn’t find any, but I’m still not convinced you haven’t brought me a past version of yourself.”

 

“I can assure you, this isn’t me, because I was bald until I was one and my hair was so light. This isn’t me.” She reassures. “I hope this doesn’t mean I’m a clone too.” She thinks out loud. 

 

“Yeah, one Sara Lance is already too many for this world.” Ava jokes and Sara looks at her in mock disbelief. 

 

Ava gathers the backpack and items strewn on the floor, packing them back into the bag before she checks on Sara who was slowly pacing back and forth in her office, rocking the baby. Making sure they were ready and had everything they needed, she presses the button on her time courier and opens the portal to the Waverider, stepping through. 

 

“Welcome Captain Lance, Director Sharpe.” Gideon says as they step through the portal, welcoming them. 

 

“Thank you, Gideon. Can you do us a favour and run an analysis on this baby?” Sara says to the AI. 

 

“Sure thing, Captain. Just bring her into the medbay.” She replies. 

 

Sara and Ava walk through the corridors of the Waverider, passing through to the medbay and walking through the automatic doors sliding open. Sara peers down at the sleeping baby in her arms and then sets her down gently on the examination chair that she’s been in herself, too many times before. 

 

The two women wait patiently as Gideon runs a full examination test on the infant, racking their brains for last minute guesses of what she is and who she could be before they found out any answers.

 

“Is she human? I looked through the Time Bureau’s databases and found nothing on her. She’s not an anachronism that I found. Can you give us any information on her?” Ava rattled off, almost nervously. 

 

“Well, Director Sharpe, it seems to be that your databases are correct. The child is in fact not an anachronism. She is just a normal human time traveler.” Gideon provides. 

 

“Oh. Well, who is she? How’d she get here?” Sara asks, wanting more answers herself. 

 

The baby squirms on the exam chair and Sara wastes no time in scooping her up, cradling her against her chest and rubbing a comforting hand on her back, swaying back and forth as Ava watches her intently. 

 

“Funny enough, Captain, you seem to have brought her to the Time Bureau. Our infant in question is one Laurel Lance—”

 

“My sister?” Sara barely manages to squeeze out before stopping dead in her tracks and staring at the baby with a broken look. 

 

“Actually Captain, this is Laurel  _ Hunter _ Lance, your daughter. Yours and Director Sharpe’s daughter, to be specific.” The AI informs them. “She is known as ‘Tiny’ to yourselves and the team.”

 

Ava looks up from the floor and meets Sara’s eyes. “Our what now, Gideon?” Ava questions, not believing what she’d just heard. She stares between Sara and the baby in her girlfriend’s arms, her surprised look of shock settles on her face into a small smile as she takes in what she hears. 

 

“I ran a thorough scan on the infant in question, and she seems to be biologically yours and Captain Lance’s one hundred percent, Director Sharpe. She was born on April 1st, 2027. Scanning her, she seems to be seven months of age. She been sent back in time, but as of right now, I am unsure of why. I will continue digging deeper into her history and find out why.” Gideon relays to the women. 

 

Ava laughs at the beginning of Gideon’s explanation. “She’s definitely related to you, she has a holiday birthday. An inconvenient one at that, too.” She says and Sara rolls her eyes. 

 

“Ava—” Sara says after a beat. Her brow furrowed as she continues her pacing back and forth. “We…we have a baby.” She says as it finally settles into her mind. “We have a kid. An actual,  _ biological _ , living, breathing baby, child, daughter, thing.” 

 

Ava snorts at her ramblings. “We do have a biological, living, breathing, baby, child, daughter, thing.” She repeats.

“We’re  _ actual _ parents.” Sara stutters out. “Like, I get the team always jokes with us being the moms of the team, but we’re  _ actual _ moms. We had a baby.”

 

“Ah, correction, Captain, Director Sharpe had your baby.” Gideon intervenes. 

 

Sara and Ava both smile. “That’s valid. I don’t think I’m strong enough to handle having a baby. We have a  _ baby _ .” Sara repeats. Ava shakes her head, knowing it has yet to really, truly sink in with Sara. She watches as Sara looks at the baby in her arms and smiles down at the baby,  _ Laurel _ , in adoration. Ava can’t help but lean forward and press her lips to Sara’s forehead in a kiss, closing her eyes and lingering for a moment. 

 

Sara looks up at her after Ava pulls away, reaching for one of Ava’s hands with her free hand, making sure she’s still supporting baby Laurel in her right arm. She gives Ava’s hand a squeeze as her eyes glaze over with tears threatening to spill over her lashes. Ava takes a deep, shaky breath, exhaling slowly. 

 

“How do we—” Ava hesitates. She rests her other hand on the chest of  _ their _ sleeping daughter in Sara’s arms. “She needs to be back in her own timeline.” Ava finally managed to spit out, tears welling in her eyes. Sara could tell she was trying so hard to not let her emotions win, not let those tears fall from her eyes. Trying so hard to not breakdown and cry. She’d known she had a daughter for exactly fifty-four minutes, and already, she’d do anything and everything to save this precious bundle of joy. She’d go to the edge of the universe, kill every living soul that ever hurt her daughter, if they laid as much as a finger on her tiny head. 

 

She swallowed hard, meeting Ava’s eyes, her own mirroring the taller blonde’s, wet with tears threatening to spill. “I don’t want to bring her back, we just got her.” Sara manages, just above a whisper. “We—” She pauses, trying to stall. “We should look in to why I apparently left her with you, us.” She says and Ava hesitates before nodding. “Gideon, do we know why I brought Laurel to Ava? What is happening in 2027?” Sara questions the AI, hoping, praying to gods she doesn’t believe in, for some kind of answers. 

 

—

 

The door clicks and unlocks, sliding open and Sara steps out with tears rolling down her cheeks. Ava breaks away from Nora’s grasp and closes the distance between them, wrapping Sara into a tight hug, holding her close. “We made the right decision, right?” Sara chokes out a sob. 

 

“I hope so.” Ava says, kissing her head. 

 

Nora steps closer to them after a moment, wrapping her arms around the two women. Ray follows, and finally Nate. The team stays, standing on the bridge together, in a group hug, all grieving the loss of their tiniest team member. 

 

“She’ll be okay.” Nate says softly. 

 

“She’s a survivor.” Ray adds. 

 

“Just like her moms.” Nora says. The team then takes that moment to all step apart, watching as they break apart, a portal phases right before their eyes and Tabatha materializes in front of them. 

 

“So, have you made your decision?” She questions the team. 

 

They all stand, at the ready, in formation with their arms crossed over their chests or hands at their hips, tears in everyone’s eyes. They all nod as Sara speaks up. “You come after us, you leave our daughter alone. We will end you, or die trying.” She says firmly. 

 

“Very well then.” The witch speaks, flicking her wrist in a nonchalant motion even before Nora could fight back with her own powers, before anyone could even blink. Tabatha slows them into slow motion as she speaks. “You watched as every other member of your team died. You just don’t give up, do you?” 

 

“A…legend…never…goes…quietly.” Sara retorts in slowed speech. 

 

Tabatha shakes her hand again and with that, the team drops to the ground with an unspoken spell, all gasping for breath, clawing at invisible objects, trying to survive. “Let us go!” Nora screams. Her face is red as she thrashes on the cold flooring. She speaks in Latin, furiously, but its no match for what Tabatha has in store. 

 

“Sara Lance,” The witch pauses, raising Sara above the floor, floating her above the others as everyone else watches. “You’re going to watch as every last member of your team dies before your eyes. You can watch the life in their eyes drain, just as I did when you banished my poor Neron to the depths of hell.” She laughs wickedly. “Now, darling, choose who goes first, and they go painlessly, or I decide and they go  _ painfully _ .” 

 

Sara locks eyes with Ava, mouthing one last “I love you” before she blinks back tears that fall from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She chokes out in sobs as the team before her all struggle to breathe. 

 

“Tick-tock, Dear.” Tabatha insists. 

 

“I can’t!” She screams, her throat raw and raspy. Her eyes slam shut as she tries to fight off the invisible hold Tabatha has on her. She kicks into the air, but the only thing it does is tire her out as she cries harder. “Let them go!”

 

“Time’s up. Raymond Palmer, goodbye.” Tabatha speaks. 

 

Ray thrashes on the ground in screams as his whole body erupts in flames. Nora tries to crawl closer to him, but the older witch’s spell keeps her in place as she watches the love of her life disintegrate into ash before her eyes, screaming. 

 

Nate watches on as his best friend disappears before his eyes before he feels fire at his own feet. The flames grow bigger and bigger, engulfing him as he meets the gazes of each of the girls. Nora’s in hysterics, chanting in Latin and crying. Ava watches on in disbelief, and if looks could actually kill, he knows Tabatha would be dying the most painful death of all. Sara won’t make eye contact with him. Tabatha blames her the most, so he knows Sara’s blaming herself for what is happening. He knows she hates herself more than anything ever in the universe. He chokes out a quiet “Love you guys, see you on the other side” before the flames engulf him entirely and he disappears. 

 

Nora’s screaming echos through the Waverider, Ava’s tuning her out, crying to herself as she watches the young witch try and fight back. The Latin Nora’s spewing seems to be working as the flames around the dark haired woman grow smaller and smaller but Tabatha fights back harder, dropping a limp, half–lifeless Sara Lance to the ground as she charges Nora and pierces her wand through the woman. Nora coughs up blood, pausing her Latin chanting and the flames grow larger as Tabatha steps back, laughing wickedly. Ava screams on for the woman who’s become like a sister to her, watches as she not only coughs and chokes on her own blood, growing paler by the second, but is engulfed in flames like the boys were, only moments before, knowing that she’s next.

 

Sara’s defeated body is lifted back up, but this time where she’s still on the ground. She tries to move, throw a punch at the witch but it was no use as Tabatha slowly makes Sara’s form move without her consent. She shows the captain that she’s now in control, moving Sara’s body for her. 

 

Sara screams out pleas, trying to fight against whatever control Tabatha has on her but she isn’t strong enough. Tabatha walks her body over to Ava who’s still in her suspended animation form. Sara’s eyes say it all but she feels the need to still voice out loud. 

 

“I’m so sorry. I love you so much. I’m sorry I brought you and everyone else into this mess. I’m sorry I broke the timeline. I’m sorry for everything. You deserved so much better than me.” She cries, pulling the shuriken dagger from its holster on her calf. 

 

“Sara, don’t say that. I love you. You deserved better than me. I knew what I was getting into when I told you I loved you too.” Ava replies watching as Sara’s body fights against her mind in slowing the dagger from reaching Ava. “Like Nate said, see you on the other side?” She says as the dagger in Sara’s hands cuts through her chest. 

 

“I love you.” Sara chokes out one last time before breaking out into sobs as the life drains from Ava’s eyes. “Why are you doing this?!” She shouts and Tabatha just laughs. 

 

“You should know why, dear.” She replies. 

 

“I hate you more than I hate myself.” She spits venomously.  

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Captain Lance.” Tabatha chides before holding up her wand. 

 

Sara struggles, still under the control of the witch but she’s not giving up just yet. “You’re never going to find her. You made the mistake of giving me an ultimatum first. You bought me time to make everything good again. I just needed to stall. And you did it all on your own.” Sara says, still stalling. She can feel the control Tabatha has on her, weakening, and she fights against it, trying to not let on that she’s gaining more power. She still has the shuriken dagger in her hand, she feels it vibrating with power in her hand and knows this is it. She fights with the control the witch has over her she keeps the conversation going, knowing it’s only a matter of time. 

 

“You may have won by killing my team and making me watch as they all gasped at their last breaths, but I’m still here. I’m still fighting.” Sara says as she feels the hold Tabatha’s control had on her lessen to the point of nonexistence and she lunges at the witch. The plan was working and she goes straight for the woman, bloodthirsty and seeing red. 

 

But Tabatha’s quicker, predicting Sara’s moves and lands her wand into Sara’s abdomen just as the Captain spears her with the dagger. She prays that the Latin spell Nora had been chanting as she took her dying breaths had worked as she twists the dagger into the witch with a gut wrenching cry as she watches Tabatha stumble back, realization settling in on her face as she figures out what just happened. 

 

“You won the battle, but we won the war.” Sara chokes out, coughing up blood as she drops to her knees, watching as the witch stumbles back and essentially dissolves into nothing. “Take care of her, Gideon.” Sara chokes out, gasping for air. 

 

“Rest in peace, Captain. Tell the others I said hi.” The AI says before powering down. 

 

—

 

Sara stares blankly at nothing, letting Gideon’s explanation sink in. Subconsciously, she cradles Laurel against her, tighter, holding onto the baby for dear life as if she’s just going to disappear at any moment.

 

“You have to figure out what to do next, Captain Lance.” The AI informs her. 

 

“Gideon, you just broke probably all of the laws and protocols of time travel. You can’t just tell us what move to make now?” Ava says, exasperatedly. 

 

“I’m afraid not, Director. You have to figure this part out on your own or the timeline will break and evil will overtake the universe in every dimension. You need to figure this out quick.” Gideon tells the two. 

 

“We need Nora’s help.” Ava states immediately. 

 

“And John’s. Hopefully he is on his way back from hell. We really need him.” Sara says. She then finally meets Ava’s gaze and looks her girlfriend in the eye. “I–I’m sorry.” She says quietly. She walks over to the exam chair, laying the still sleeping baby onto it gently before crossing over to Ava. 

 

“For what?” Ava says confused. 

 

“Didn’t you listen to what Gideon said? This was all my fault. Tabatha was after me in the first place and I dragged everyone into this mess and literally stabbed you in the heart. You deserve someone so much better than me, Ava. I’m still Death and that’s not ever going to change. How are you––” Sara rambles but Ava grabs her hands, stopping her. 

 

“You. Are. Not. Death, Sara Lance. You are life and love and a mother now who puts everyone first and makes sure we’re okay before you. You fought until your dying breath to save us all, and in the end, you won. You lost some, but you won. You’re a hero. And you are who I choose to be with continuously because I love you, always. You are my life, my love, my home.” Ava says with a shaky voice. She needs her words to get through to Sara. She needs Sara to understand how much she loves her. She needs Sara to never give up and stand right beside her as they figure out how to end this war. “You deserve everything and I will spend every moment of my life trying to give that to you. Please don’t give up on me, on us.” She pleads. “I need you.” 

 

Sara sniffles and takes a shaky breath before closing her eyes, fighting back tears and nodding. “Okay.” She whispers and Ava’s head falls towards hers, resting her forehead on the shorter blonde’s, her eyes meeting Sara’s as she lifts up the Captain’s chin, kissing her lips softly. 

 

Sara finally steps out of Ava’s personal space and takes another deep breath, her eyes landing on the–– _ her daughter _ —as she squirms around on the exam chair and blinks open her eyes. 

 

“Hi Tiny.” She greets the groggy infant, helping her into a sitting position, letting the baby grasp her index fingers and pull herself up. Ava hovers behind her, smiling with tears in her eyes at the little girl that has her heart enamoured. 

 

Tiny grins a gummy, two tiny toothed smile at them as she pulls Sara’s hand into her mouth and chews on it. 

 

Sara stands contently, letting their daughter drool all over her hand as she looks towards Ava. “So, we need a plan.”

 

“I’ll call Gary to get Mona and him here, you wrangle the rest of the team and then we can figure out where Nora is on rescuing John from Hell.” Ava says and Sara nods in agreement. “Now, hand over our baby.” She says, making grabby hands at the infant. Sara passes their daughter off, still letting the baby hold onto her finger as she walks side by side with Ava.

 

“Now I know where she gets it from.” Sara jokes, lightening the mood. “Gideon, call everyone to the bridge for a family meeting. Make sure Mona and Gary are there too.” She says with a smile. 

 

“You have jokes now, Captain Lance?” Ava says, raising a brow. 

 

“I always have jokes, Director Sharpe. Or is it Director Lance now? Gideon never specified.” Sara quips as they make their way to the bridge. 

 

“It is indeed Director  _ Lance _ .” Gideon interjects just as they enter the bridge, seeing six pairs of eyes staring back at them. 

 

“Um, I’m going to speak for everyone right now. What the hell dimension did we just walk into?” Zari asks, cradling the still unhatched dragon egg. 

The team stares on at Sara, Ava and the baby, waiting for an explanation. Silence fills the bridge as Sara and Ava stumble awkwardly over their words before being able to speak. The two women fill in the team, reciting everything that had happened since baby Laurel was dropped into Ava’s care earlier that morning, not missing a beat and pausing, trying to get through the rough parts of explaining how each of the team was dead because of them. 

 

“So we have to come up with a plan to save our future selves?” Charlie clarifies. 

 

“Yes, but I think the key is to eliminate Tabatha first before we return Ray’s soul back to him. She’s the stronger of the two, so we need to deal with her first because obviously in the future, when we returned Ray’s soul and thus ended Neron, she came after us and eliminated John who we need. We need his and Nora’s combined powers.” Ava adds. 

 

“But both John and Nora are in Hell, thanks to me.” Gary pipes up. 

 

Sara furrows her brow, looking off into a daze before speaking. “Okay but hear me out. Gary basically ‘controls’ Nora, now, right? She’s his fairy godmother or whatever and only he can summon her and make her do his bidding, correct?” She doesn’t wait for clarification before going on, because like her, the team also assumes it, not really knowing the correct answer. “We can have Gary ask her how the retrieval of them is going and then when they’re back, we can have him wish to have Nora with the help of whoever, end Tabatha, right?”

 

“That’s the best suggestion we have so, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Gary, see what Nora has to say.” Nate replies and looks towards Gary. The whole team follows suit and all eyes land on Gary as he stands nervously before everyone. 

 

“Oh Fairy Godmother?” He tries. 

 

“Yes Gary?” Nora’s annoyed voice huffs into existence. 

 

“Uh, do you, perhaps, maybe, possibly know your ETA back to this dimension, because we maybe sort of have a problem here that requires your help.” He asks nervously. 

 

“I don’t know, Gary. I found Ray’s soul and we’re hunting down John now. Astra has him. I’m kinda in the middle of something though, can you summon me later?” She asks, annoyance clear in her voice. 

 

“We need you back here. Please be soon, okay?” He pleads and Nora huffs in reply. 

 

“I’ll try my best.” She grumbles. 

 

Gary looks around the room and exchanges glances with everyone, knowing right now, it’s a waiting game and there’s nothing they can do. 

 

“I guess for now, everyone carry on with their day. We just have to wait this out and hopefully Nora can bring John back in time before things get out of hand again.” Sara instructs. “Team dismissed.” She lets them go before turning back to Ava. “We uh, can we go shopping? We don’t have anything for her besides the bag.” Sara mentions and Ava smiles at the domestic thought of shopping with Sara and their daughter. 

 

“Sure, just after we change her.” Ava says as they head towards the med bay to grab the backpack they left there earlier.

 

Sara manages to distract the baby while Ava makes work of trying to wrangle the baby into a fresh diaper and once the whole ordeal was over with tears from Laurel and two very frustrated new to the game moms, Sara holds Laurel in the air while Ava crouches down, trying to snap the tiny snaps on the baby’s onesie back together so they can tackle shopping. Ava groans at the idea, seeing as how painful changing a diaper just was.  _ Were they ready for this? Is this what she really wants? _

 

Sara holds their daughter in her arms as Ava opens a portal to her apartment, both women stepping through and she takes a deep, refreshing breath, happy to be home even if its only for the time being. “We don’t have a car seat how are we driving to a baby store?” Sara says as it dawns on her. 

 

“Right. Okay. Can Gideon fabricate a car seat?” Ava asks, the portal to the Waverider still open. Sara shrugs but the two women step back through the portal, summoning the AI and inquiring about the car seat. Gideon has it ready for them momentarily and Ava takes it as soon as it’s done, finally stepping back through the portal once more, ready to take on the next task. 

 

“I’m googling baby stores.” Sara says, one hand holding a bubbly Laurel, the other, scrolling on her phone a list of stores that carry baby products. “Google says Target and Buy Buy Baby, Ikea but I don’t want to go there. And some other fancy boutiques in town. Target’s closer, right?” She asks and Ava nods, taking the baby from Sara and attempting to secure her in the car seat. 

 

“Stop moving, Laurel, I don’t want to break you.” Ava pleads with her daughter. Sara laughs. 

 

“Here, lift her butt and grab the buckle there, then slide your hand here to grab the left shoulder strap and then do the same on the opposite side to get the right one, then just clip them in and make sure that little latch is at her armpits.” Sara says, demonstrating the whole time, while maneuvering the baby around the car seat to buckle her in. Ava just watches her in awe of how smooth and careful Sara was. “I mean, you know I babysat as a teenager. It’s pretty easy. Once you know how to wrangle them into a shirt, you can figure out how to put them in a car seat.” She shrugs before picking up the baby car seat and holding it in the crook of her elbow. Again, Ava just steps back and watches how domestic the scene is as Sara walks out the front door of their apartment and heads for Ava’s bureau-issued SUV. 

 

She watches as Sara expertly seems to secure the car seat into the car the right way without a base and checks that there isn’t room for the seat to move before tossing Ava the keys and climbing into the passenger side seat. 

 

Ava gulps, realizing she has to drive them all to the store and hopefully is able to make it in one piece. “Okay, we should make a list of what we need.” Sara pipes up after Ava heads toward their destination. “What do we need?” 

 

“I don’t know? You know more about kids than me.” Ava says with a shrug. “We can just ask an employee, I’m sure they can help us out.” 

 

“Oh yeah. How do we explain this though, like ‘hi, a future version of myself left me and my girlfriend our baby from the future and we don’t know how long she’s going to be with us and have nothing for her, what do we need?’ People are going to think we need to be committed. They’ll probably try calling CPS on us or something.” Sara muses. 

 

Ava rolls her eyes but she knows Sara made a valid point. “Okay, why don’t you go grocery shopping with her on one side, maybe pick out some baby food for her too while I ask an employee about like I don’t know, having a friend in need? I’ll figure something plausible out when I get to it. Can you just pick up some things we need at the apartment? You think you can handle that?” Ava asks and Sara rests her hand on Ava’s thigh, nodding. 

 

“Yeah. I’ll meet you back at the car?” Sara says and Ava nods as they park and head into Target, once cart with Sara as she places the baby’s car seat in it and the other, empty, pushed by Ava as they part ways with a quick kiss. 

 

Ava strolls down to the baby section of the store, trying to figure out all that she’d need. She knows Laurel is a size three in diapers and throws a large pack of them in the cart immediately, along with a new package of baby wipes. She then picks out a cute blanket with a giraffe on it and places it into the cart before wandering down more aisles aimlessly, a look of confusion all over her face. She spots an employee not long after and flags her down, hoping the lady could help. 

 

“Do you have kids?” She asks and the lady nods. 

 

“Yes, are you expecting?” She inquires with a happy smile and Ava opens her mouth before closing it for a minute and then begins to speak.

 

“I uh––my  _ friend _ has a baby, she’s around seven months old and she’s coming to stay with me. She uh…was in a bad relationship and is getting out of it. I don’t know what all she has, but I want to get everything a baby would need. What do I need?” She asks the woman and the lady smiles. 

 

“I’m glad to hear she’s getting out of there.” She says and Ava just nods. “You definitely have to have diapers, which you have. Does the baby have a place to sleep? Does your friend co–sleep?” The woman asks and Ava tilts her head. “Does she sleep with the baby in her bed or does the baby have a crib or somewhere else to sleep?” She explains and Ava nods along with understanding. 

 

“Oh, um we–– _ she  _ uh, I don’t know?” She says thinking about it. 

 

“Well, I suggest trying a product called ‘dock-a-tot’ for co–sleeping.” She says leading Ava towards the item and Ava picks it up, reading about it on the package before deciding it seems like a good product and places it into the cart. “Now, does she have a baby bath or do you plan on just using the sink?” 

 

“Probably the sink, it’s easier access. I’ll pick up some baby soap for her.” Ava says mentally noting to pick up baby soap as the woman continues on. 

 

“Alright, and do you have a high chair or a seat for the little one?” Ava shakes her head as the sale associate leads her over to the array of high chairs and infant seats. She listens as the lady chats on about different pros and cons of a few products before the woman helps her settle on a sleek white plastic high chair and a smaller one for “on the go” as she told the woman, knowing the smaller one would be for the Waverider. She then leads Ava down more aisles, making sure Ava has a standard infant first aid kit and outlet covers as well as a baby gate after finding out there were stairs in the apartment. She also makes sure to get Ava the best standard childproof lock items for cabinets and toilets, knowing that if Laurel really is her and Sara’s daughter, she’d get into anything and everything. Lastly, before she lets Ava go off on her own, she helps Ava pick out a stroller and matching car seat, one safer than what Gideon fabricated for the time being. The lady finally leaves Ava to carry on her trip, letting her go off on her own and Ava makes her way around the remaining aisles, getting the little things. 

 

She poses through the bottle and pacifiers, throwing a couple into the cart of each item, along with baby bibs and a baby Bjorn, which she laughed at when she first saw it but still put it in the cart knowing that it would definitely be easier to carry the baby by use of securing her to their bodies and still having use of their hands instead of walking around with only one free arm. She threw in a few cute toys and stuffed animals she saw as she strolled the aisles, finding it hard to shove things into the very full cart. Thankfully the helpful associate woman was able to bring a few of the bigger items to the front where she could pick them up instead of carting them around the store. She then lastly strolls down the clothing aisles and picks out a wide arrange of outfits for the baby, including multiple packs of onesies, knowing babies go through so many clothes. 

 

After deciding that she’d gotten enough items to hopefully last them a bit, not knowing how long their child from the future was actually staying with them, she strolls to the front of the store and checks out her items and find Sara. 

 

—

 

Sara walks through each aisle of the store, grabbing the necessary groceries that she knew they needed at the apartment like more coffee, creamer, bread, and milk. She also picks up more fruits and fresh vegetables before wandering down the aisle that stocked baby food. She looks around, grimacing at all the selections they had for baby food before stopping another woman in the aisle who had a child in her cart as well. “Can I ask you a question?” She says hesitantly. 

 

“Yes, of course, how can I help?” The redhead answers, turning towards Sara with a smile. 

 

“I um,” She pauses trying to come up with a fast lie as to explain why she doesn’t know what to feed her own daughter. “My sister died in a car accident and I am now the legal guardian of my niece and I don’t know much about what babies eat. You’re a mom, what do you recommend?” She questions and the redhead shoots her a small, sad smile before beginning to explain. 

 

Sara listens intently to the woman, thanking her profusely for all the suggestions before parting ways with her and finishing up her shopping trip, just as Laurel starts to fuss in her seat. She fishes the stuffed canary out of the backpack as well as the pacifier and hands them to her fussing daughter as they near the check out and pay for their items, heading back to Ava’s SUV in the parking lot. 

 

She beats Ava to the car by a few minutes, having turned it on and gotten the cart unloaded into the car and Laurel situated back in before sitting in the car and pulling up information on how to raise a kid by the time Ava returns to the car with two carts overfull with items. She steps out of the car and helps her load the items into the SUV with a little bit of a struggle, making sure everything fit before they’re able to leave. 

 

Returning back to the apartment Sara unloads all the grocery items into the kitchen and places them where they belong as she sets Laurel in the new high chair Ava had already pulled out of the box and immediately assembled first before anything else. “I bought a new blender. This mom I met in the baby food aisle was giving me tips on what to feed babies because I’m sorry but the jars of baby food looked absolutely disgusting and I refuse to feed our daughter that crap.” Sara rambles as she hears a loud crash. “Are you okay?” She calls out, peeking around the corner of the kitchen into the hallway where Ava had apparently dropped a box, one containing the smaller, travel high chair. 

 

“I—you said our daughter.” Ava manages to say as a smile lights up her face and Sara smiles, her dimples popping out. 

 

“Yeah.” She says, dropping her head, still smiling as a blush rises to her cheeks.

 

“I liked hearing it.” Ava adds, picking up the box and leaving it in the living room. “I picked this up for the Waverider, I know we’ll probably need it.” She says before leaving the house and going back out to the car to bring in more things. 

 

It takes them a majority of the early evening to unpack Ava’s car and unbox everything they’d bought as well as assemble most of the items that had needed it. The two women take turns joking around with a few of the infant products and attempt to wrangle themselves in the baby Bjorn carrier, after a half an hour struggle before being able to put it on right and get a very uncooperative, fussy Laurel into the contraption to test it out. She ended up taking a liking to the carrier and that’s how Sara found the two in the kitchen, hours later. Ava having secured Laurel into the carrier on her chest after the baby had eaten and was walking around the kitchen, mixing a pan of vegetables on the stove and watching to make sure the food didn’t burn as Sara descended the stairs from putting away the multitude of baby clothes Ava had bought their daughter. 

 

Sara stays, standing on the last step of the stairs, watching as Ava waltzes around the kitchen, one lightly supportive hand on the baby’s back, the other with a wooden spoon, stirring the pan of food around before she turns her back to the island, spotting Sara and smiling as she goes to uncork the bottle of wine and pours it into two glasses. Sara takes a seat at one of the barstools and takes a glass of wine, clinking her glass to Ava’s before taking a sip. “Here, I can take her now.” Sara says softly. Ava walks around the island and unclips the baby from her chest and Sara pulls her into her arms as Ava slips off the carrier and tosses it haphazardly onto the couch before shutting off the stove and plating their food. 

 

Sara sets the baby in the high chair next to them as they enjoy their meal. The two women exchanging their fake cover stories from their excursion in the superstore, to generic small talk before placing their plates into the sink, next to the unwashed blender and tiny bowl Laurel had used before her mothers ate their dinner. 

 

The clock on the oven flashes a mere two minutes past eight but Sara yawns, causing a chain reaction from Laurel and then Ava and she laughs, deciding that they should turn in for the night. Ava grabs a bottle from the cabinet and measures in some water before scooping in the formula and shaking the bottle up as they walk up the stairs, Sara and the baby first, Ava following them close behind with the bottle. 

 

They enter their room, having already set up the plush “dock-a-tot” the woman in the store recommended to them, on their bed right in the middle and Sara props herself up on a pillow, tucking Laurel into her embrace before presenting the bottle to the already sleepy baby. Together the two women watch as Laurel sucks down the bottle and drifts off to sleep as Sara lays her down between them and Ava shuts off the light. 

  
  


It’s pushing four–thirty in the morning when Ava’s phone rings, causing the baby to start screaming and Sara to sit straight up in bed in a panic as Ava answers the phone, half–asleep, grumbling a “What do you want, Gary?” Into the phone. 

 

She huffs and sits up straighter in her bed, speaking to her assistant before ending the call with a yawn. “Nora, John and Ray’s soul token are back. Gary was letting me know they’re on the Waverider and we’re going to meet in the morning.” She says as Sara tries to get the baby to calm back down. 

 

It takes Sara nearly twenty more minutes to get Laurel to settle down before they go back to sleep, getting a whole hour and a half before Ava’s alarm sounds and wakes the small family up, Laurel’s ear piercing cry echoing through the room. 

 

Ava shuffles around the room, putting on fresh clothes while Sara gets a bottle ready for the baby. By the time she’s done feeding her, they switch and Ava gets the baby changed into a fresh diaper and outfit while Sara gets herself ready and they open a portal onto the ship, meeting the team on the bridge, Zari happily greeting them with mugs of coffee as they step through. 

 

“How long were we gone, Lass? You’ve gone and bore a child without me, yeah?” John quips. 

 

Nora just looks between the two women and widens her eyes in disbelief noticing the two were actually three. Or more accurately, two and a half.

 

The couple filled them in on the whole ordeal, letting Nora and John know of the plan before devising a way to find Tabatha and Neron, making sure their plan was solid. They couldn’t lose this battle. 

 

—

 

Sara taps away at the command center desk, Zari following suit on another side of it as they track the magical footprints that they know to be Tabatha and Neron. “They’re in DC. Databases show they’re at an events center. Neron is hosting another seminar thing.” Sara announces to the team. 

 

They whole team gears up again, this time with more force as the group steps through the portal into the DC’s event center hall and slide into the seminar, seemingly unnoticed. 

 

“Everyone on comms, check?” Zari asks, from on the Waverider. Sara had asked her to run point from the ship and to keep an eye on baby Laurel while controlling all their needed tech.

 

She gets an echo of “yes’s” in reply before they begin each step of their plan. 

 

Charlie and Nate are in the audience at different vantage points. Mick is stationed backstage at the entrance. Both Mona and Gary are in opposite hallways on the lookout for anyone passing by and keeping an eye out for the two evildoers. Ava and Sara have let themselves and Nora and John into the “dressing room” Neron has backstage, waiting for their arrival. 

 

It’s a bit of waiting around before Charlie announces that the seminar is over, and terribly awful at that before they let them know that Neron is headed their way, with Tabatha by his side. 

 

The four in the dressing room stand at the ready and as the door opens, Nora and John immediately start chanting in Latin, casting a spell on the two, making them immobile as Ava and Sara are able to put the magic-suppressing cuffs onto them before taking them into custody. Ava opens a portal once the team has assembled in the room with them and they, along with the two fugitives all step into the Time Bureau as Ava and Nora lead Tabatha and Neron into magical cells. 

 

They leave Neron in his containment cell before Ava, Sara, John and Nora gather in the containment cell that Tabatha is held in. Nora harnesses her powers as John creates and opens a portal, and the two combine their powers, releasing the mess onto Tabatha and watch as she gets sucked into the depths of Hell, never to be released again. 

 

“It’s over?” Ava says as the dimension to Hell closes up at last. 

 

“We need to return Ray’s soul to his body, but yeah, it’s over.” Sara says softly, squeezing Ava’s hand. 

 

Nora steps back and heads for the door as she lets her powers dampen and relax before leaving and slipping out of the now empty containment cell. Ava watches as the young woman who she’s come to consider as a friend, slips out of the doorway and she gives Sara’s hand a squeeze back before she shoots her a look and leaves, following the way Nora had just left. 

 

“Nora.” She says softly, seeing the dark haired woman leaning against the wall in the hallway, taking deep, shaky breaths. 

 

“I kissed Ray. In hell, I kissed him and I know he knows how I feel about him but what if I can’t bring him back? Or what if I do, and he doesn’t feel the same way?” Nora rambles on, fiddling with her fingers instead of looking at Ava or making eye contact. “What if John and I don’t harness enough power to return his soul to his body?” 

 

Ava takes Nora’s hands in her own, forcing the brunette to look up at her, meeting her eyes. “You need take a deep breath. You possess so much power, Nora Darhk. I believe in you. And  _ when _ you return Ray back, don’t give up on him. He is a good man, and you deserve to have happiness in life. It took me a really long, tough time to understand that, but when I finally accepted it, I have never been happier and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Look where it’s gotten me? I have a partner, someone who I love, so, so much and a daughter from the future. I have a real family, and I’m surrounded by love. It’s what you can look forward to if you just let yourself be happy.” Ava says, and it makes Nora smile the tiniest bit. 

 

“You really think so? You’re putting a lot of faith into a literal demon child.” Nora tries lightening the mood. 

 

“No, I’m putting a lot of faith into my friend.” Ava says sincerely. 

 

Nora chokes out a laugh before thanking Ava and nodding, heading towards the cell Neron was being held, meeting up with John at the entrance as she presses her hand against the electronic padlock and unlocks the cell so the two could step inside. 

 

Ava watches as the doors slide close behind them and lock shut, turning as she senses Sara’s presence behind her. “I’m really glad you were able to accept it too.” Sara says, cluing Ava in on the fact she caught part of the conversation she had with Nora. “And speaking of having a daughter, Zari said she just put her down for the night. So, that means…” Sara trails off, walking her fingers up the side of Ava’s arm. 

 

“Sara!” Ava replies coyly. “But before we  _ do _ anything else. I want to make sure Nora is okay, and Ray of course.” She says, halting Sara’s actions and thoughts.

 

The two women flinch as the containment cell doors open and John slips on through, into the hallway with them. “I’d give them a moment…” He says, heading down the hall. “Or an eternity.” He finishes as Ava and Sara share a look before silently deciding that checking on Ray and Nora could definitely wait and Ava presses a button on her time courier and the two step through the newly opened portal and onto the ship. 

 

“Shall we take a few minutes to ourselves while we have them, Director Sharpe?” Sara says in a sultry, insinuating tone. She hesitates a moment later when she notices Ava has pretty much frozen in place and isn’t reacting to any of her advances. “Aves, you okay?” She asks in a soft voice. 

 

“Its over.” Ava says as it’s finally sunk in with her. 

 

“Yeah, it’s great. We don’t have to worry anymore. Our friends are safe and our life is gonna go back to normal. We won!” Sara smiles. Ava wants to smile but the nagging feeling in her heart keeps her from doing so. 

 

“So what happens next?” She asks. 

 

“What do you mean? I guess we just go back to hunting anachronisms in the timeline and fixing history.” Sara shrugs, not grasping what Ava was going on about. 

 

“I meant about Laurel. What happens next with her? Does she just get placed back in her own timeline?” Ava wonders and Sara’s smile falters, remembering their little girl who was currently asleep in another quarter of the ship. 

 

“I—I don’t know.” 

 

“Captain, if I may, I have an answer for yours and Director Sharpe’s inquiries.” Gideon interjects. 

 

“Go on, Gideon.” Sara insists. 

 

“Like I’ve told you before, Baby Laurel is sent to this timeline, but since your team was never able to defeat Tabatha in time, her timeline is erased, but since she was sent back in time to a preexisting timeline, her existence will remain, just in this timeline.” Gideon explains to the two. 

 

“We—she has to stay in this timeline?” Ava says piecing it together. 

 

“Exactly, Director Sharpe. Congratulations, it’s a girl.” Gideon says before going silent and flickering off. 

 

“Cheeky bot.” Ava says with a light laugh. “Sara,” She says, turning towards her girlfriend. 

 

Sara looks at Ava blankly, processing the information. She lets it sink in that the whole timeline had been altered and their futures had changed drastically, but she can’t believe it. She just turns, leaving Ava standing in the middle of the ship’s library and heads for her bunker. She rushes into her room, finding Laurel sleeping soundly in her bed, the monitor that Zari set up to watch her from the bridge facing directly towards the baby, and Sara reaches out, scooping the slumbering infant into her arms. She presses a kiss to the baby’s tiny forehead as Ava enters her room in a rush, huffing, taking a deep breath in. She meets Ava’s eyes as her own start to water and she has no energy to fight back tears as she looks down at her daughter. “I— we get to keep her.” Sara states, it sounds more like an unsure question, but they both know it’s a statement that deems true if Gideon knows what she’s saying. 

 

“We get to keep her.” Ava repeats, closing the distance between them and wraps Sara in her arms, making sure she doesn’t squish their daughter in the process. 

 

“I know I didn’t talk about it, but the thought of having to send her back to her own timeline terrified me and was tearing me apart. I didn’t know I could love someone else so much, but I do. I love her so much, it scares me, Ava. I don’t know—I don’t know how I can do this.” She says nervously. 

 

“With me.” Ava says softly. “Together. We do this together. We’ve been to hell and back, defeated three evil demon things and are time–traveling superheroes. How much of a challenge can raising our daughter really be?” She muses. 

 

Sara just looks up at her and presses a soft kiss to her lips. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hopefully I fixed all the typos, and if not oh well. too late now...


End file.
